


Waiting at the Top

by TurtTurt



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Acrobat Dipper, Acrobatics, Alternate Universe - Circus, Circus, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Master/Pet, Older Dipper Pines, Suicide Attempt, Warnings May Change, its a wip, sorta?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26227225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtTurt/pseuds/TurtTurt
Summary: Dipper had it all, a wonderful clown-core life, friends, and a loving boss.That was until Susan couldn't handle the stress of managing a circus on her lonesome. She packed her things for retirement and sold off her business to a wealthy investor, Bill Cipher.All Dipper needs to do is wait out his contract to get away from the only home he loved, but having Bill on his back will make that much tougher than he imagined.
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	1. Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper meets a stranger who calls himself "Bill Cipher"

Dipper stood at the top of the trapeze, panting and staring over the almost empty bleachers. 

He had just finished his final act.

He bowed and smiled, letting a small laugh bubble up from within him as he made eye contact with the only man in the audience.

After one last wave bye, he closed his eyes and stepped backward off the trapeze

~

It started three weeks prior.

Dipper stood at the top of the trapeze, panting and staring over the crowd. 

He had just finished the final act and was damn proud.

He bowed and smiled, absorbing the praise from the people surrounding him.

After one last wave, he stepped down onto the ladder and made his way out of the tent to cool down.

Dipper hummed in agreement automatically to every praise he received on his act as he passed through the crowd of co-workers. It wasn’t any different from the other nights that he performed, but he was glad that they appreciated him. 

Soon enough he had made it back to the train. There weren’t any more shows that day so he briskly showered and changed into his normal clothes. 

It didn’t take long after he had settled into a book before there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Dipper said, tucking a bookmark into the story he was reading.

A crew member, Lee, poked his head into the room,” The boss wants everyone to gather outside of the train.”

“Any clue what it’s about?”

“Nope, but I’m hoping it’s about new uniforms, mine has been ripping at the seams.” With a wave, his door was shut again, leaving him to haul himself out of bed and join the rest of the circus outside.

As soon as she made sure everyone was present, the owner, Ms.Wentworth stood on a milk crate so that everyone could see her, “I am sure that by now, everyone knows that I’m not as young as I used to be. I hope this isn’t too much of a surprise, but I have decided that I am retiring. While I do not regret the time I spent building and managing this group, I am not capable of continuing any longer. I was offered a deal for the company that I couldn’t refuse…”

All remained dead silent during the speech. While they weren’t happy to be put under new management, the staff all silently agreed that Susan deserved to be happy. 

“-which included keeping the current staff fully employed as well as a bonus for everyone!” She finished excitedly, changing the somber tone of the announcement and resulting in the cheer of the crowd.

In the end, they sent her off with numerous cheers and hugs as well as a promise to visit when they toured her new home town. 

While the bonus softened the blow, he could still feel the tension in the air as it dawned on people that they had just lost the best boss they had ever had.

The new owner showed up shortly after Susan had left. Everyone had lingered around the area waiting for him so that they wouldn’t have to walk all the way back.

“It’s lovely to meet you all at last! Allow me to formally introduce myself, my name is Bill Cipher.”

Their new boss stood upon the same crate that Susan had. He seemed nice enough but there was something off about him.

He was a tad overdressed in a neat black and yellow suit with a matching hat and cane. He must be big on first impressions.

A black patch sat on his left eye and a sugary charismatic smile never reached his other. 

Despite his appearance, something was still off. Everyone dressed strongly here, even when off duty, many liked to flaunt bright colors and unique styles. Not even the patch was out of the usual considering Susan used to have one too.

What _did_ unnerve Dipper was the feeling he got when he locked eyes with Bill. It felt like something scurrying around inside him. 

It wasn’t the best idea to get off on the wrong foot with his new boss, even if he didn’t get a good vibe from him he could at least try to get along.

“I won’t be making any changes to your acts until I have gotten acquainted with everyone and the routines that you have. As promised, you will all remain employed here though I do require one condition. A contract mandating just a few months without anyone quitting. It’s really just a precaution for my investment.” He paused for a moment to scan the crowd. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be some money-obsessed prick, that would be the worst thing to happen to any of them. They didn’t need twenty lackluster shows a day when they could do a couple of quality ones.

“I’ll also need someone to familiarize me with the basics, though that can happen after tomorrow’s show, I’m sure you are all tired from today’s performance. Do get some rest everyone, I’ll be in the audience for the first show of tomorrow.” Cipher finished, waving everyone off to go back to what they were doing and leaving Dipper with more questions than when he started.


	2. In Good TIme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the bad vibes around Bill linger, Dipper tries to rationalize the reason why. Bill's first impression was soured by the retirement of the beloved Lazy Susan, so shouldn't he be allowed to make a proper impression?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I love this concept and I'm so excited to explore it with you guys! 
> 
> As always, I try to tag as accurately as possible

Dipper woke up bright and early. He preferred to perform in the earlier shows; Though he was an early bird, he didn’t have any complaints covering for coworkers when they needed a break later on in the day. 

Performances later in the day left him tired, sore, and lulled him to sleep as he grinned so hard his cheeks ached. Earlier shows gave him the rest of the day to himself to relax. This was when he wasn’t helping out elsewhere or scheduled for more shows.

He was ready within a few minutes and rushed into the crowd of coworkers to help introduce the audience. The audience instantly roared in applause as the first performer moved into the stage area. Instead of Susan, another acrobat did the honor of introducing the show, punctuating the sentence with a backflip. It was a pleasant icebreaker to start the show, though not nearly as effective as Susan’s charm.

He waited until he felt the earth beneath him tremble before he went into the center with the other performers. The rumbling was emitted from the bleachers, where an eager crowd stamped their feet in drumroll for the performers.

Dipper waved both hands, joining in the cheering and trying to look at every member of the audience that he could. When he got to a certain point in the bleachers, he flinched just the smallest bit. For a brief moment, he remained still; he stopped and stared back into the yellow eye that met his. He shook his head the tiniest bit and regained his composure.

He knew that his new boss would be in the crowd, he was learning the ropes. It occurred to him as he thought that Bill mentioned attending the first show specifically. Dipper needed to get his head in the game, especially if he wanted to get along with or even impress his boss. Absurd reactions like that were not what he needed.

It wasn’t until after the show that he had to see him again. It was during the clean-up that he stilled everyone to make his announcement, “Delightful performance everyone, you are all quite talented. I look forward to working with you all. Now, I mentioned yesterday that I needed to get my bearings on how things work around here. We won’t have enough time between shows and I'd hate to bother you all when you’re resting so whoever I choose will be compensated for the missed time performing, despite if they had the showing or not.”

The group couldn't help but cheer a tad, if not for the money, for the general generosity of their new boss. When he continued, Dipper couldn’t bother to pay attention.

Dipper stayed in the back of the staff, pretending that he wasn’t staying lower than average to avoid unwanted attention. He didn’t mind performing for his money at all. He would rather work for it than be a tour guide. Why did he choose the circus life if not to pave his own path and succeed the way that he wanted?

“How about you, in the back. My apologies, I haven't learned your names yet. The one with the tree design on him. Pine tree.” 

He must have been too distracted by his thoughts and zoned out, “Yeah?”

“There’s no time to waste, why don't we get started right away. We don't want to be in the way when the next showing begins.”

”Uh, alright I'll show you around.” Dipper was a tad bit caught off guard, but he regained his composure quickly 

Dipper went around to each of the main areas, describing what went on there as well as the main.

“So what is the purpose of this?” He tapped a bright red wooden box with his cane.

“That's where we keep the emergency props for each scene. See that spotlight? He flicked a switch on the floor next to the box. We need to be able to switch to another scene quickly if one doesn't turn out as we planned.”

“It draws attention to the new spotlight. Wonderful, a contingency plan is already in order. Show me more, Pine Tree.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Curse his choice in a strangely patterned leotard. Bill couldn’t have been referring to anything else with his nicknaming skills, he just wanted to know why it stuck.

“I introduced myself earlier but you couldn't spare the courtesy.” Bill drew out the sentence, expressing how hurt he was in each syllable. He stepped away a few feet in a new direction tapping the box as he went. Dipper raised his eyebrows, shocked that he elicited such a response from the composed man.

“It's Dipper, ” he hastened to alleviate the tension, ”my name, that is. Sorry, Bill.”

“It's ‘Mr.Cipher’, or ‘Sir’.” He dropped the sob expression in exchange for a thoughtful countenance, ”Dipper Dip and per, hmm. What's your real name, kid?” Bill donned a pondering expression as he felt the name in his mouth.

“That _is_ my name.” Dipper was beginning to get irritated, was Bill playing with him? Colorful expressions, rejecting his name, Bill was a character all right.

“I can tell when you're lying kid. Oh well, I'll find out.” he continued to move in the direction, forcing Dipper to follow.”I’ll stick with Pine tree.”

“Then I'll stick with Bill.”

“Don't test me.” he snapped before recomposing himself and adjusting his tie,“What's next?”

If the rest of the tour seemed rushed, Bill didn't mention it. He simply thanked Dipper for his time and strode away, leaving Dipper to rush into his room and collapse on his bed.

That's why Dipper saved the living quarters for last. Who knew a tour could be so emotionally draining? 

He thanked everything out there that the boss’ quarters were so far away from his room. If he had to see that face every time he started his day, he would be pissed.

When Lazy Susan was around, he’d purposely head toward the front of the train where the quarters were, she liked to chat with Dipper. The occasional pie was an added bonus.

He had the rest of the day off according to Bill. Bill promised a full workdays’ compensation for Dipper to just show him around. He would have done it anyway just to welcome a new member; it was slightly insulting to suggest that a staff member _wouldn't_ show him around for free.

Maybe he just wanted to feel insulted by Bill. When some strange guy replaces the well-loved previous boss there's bound to be some negative feelings floating around.

The longer he thought about it, the worse he felt. Pissed off his boss on the very first day, great. First impressions are looking wonderful. It hadn’t been too eventful after the spat, Dipper had held his tongue, fearing he had gone too far with disrespecting his boss. 

It didn't matter anymore, it was already done, he couldn’t go back in time and fix anything. All he could do was wait until he saw Bill again and see if he was expecting an apology.

He needed to stop overthinking things or he’d be up all night.

He kept telling himself that, even as his alarm blared in the morning. 

When he managed to drag himself out of bed, a glance out the window revealed the crowd surrounding his boss. He could probably pick up the memo from someone once he caught up.

The crowd had started to disperse when Dipper finally arrived. He was able to pick Lee out of the crowd and pull him to the side, “What was that all about?”

They discussed as Dipper walked him to the cosmetics tent.

“Master made an announcement about some team bonding that he wants to start hosting. He hasn't settled on any dates, but he said he wanted to propose the idea to get everyone pumped. Paraphrasing if you couldn't tell.” He laughed as he added the last line.

He knew Lee couldn't hang around so Dipper kept it brief. He already had the information he needed.

Dipper huffed, “Don't you find it a bit strange how he wants us to call him Master? He owns the circus, not us.” 

“Dip, he’s the circus master, master of the circus. Don’t take it to a weird place, you're overthinking things.”

“I know It's just…”

“Hey, it's okay, I'll keep an eye out if it makes you feel better. No reason to stress, just say you'll keep an open mind.”

He nodded and received a pat on the back in exchange as Lee left to start the day. 

“Decided that beauty sleep was more important than showing up, did you?”

Dipper stumbled forward and slapped a hand on his chest. A gasp had left his mouth open so he hurried to clasp it shut so fast that his teeth clacked.

“Oh, it’s you Sir, sorry.” Bill should really be the one apologizing. An absence wasn't nearly as bad as a mini heart attack.

“It's okay, I'm not _that_ hurt.” He was sure that’s Bill was being overdramatic but couldn’t help feeling a small bit bad.

“Lee already caught me up, but thanks for coming to fill me in.” He ended the conversation and went to move away before Bill stepped in his way.”

“I heard, I have a different task for you. You’ll be in a new spot today, the audience. I want you to tell me how Mrs. Wentworth used to introduce the show, and about the acts as they are performed” 

“Actually, Wendy has a management position of some sort. She is a bit more capable than me, you might not know who is who so I can fetch her.” Bill must not have known that they already had a management system. It made sense that he would gather information from someone less influential if he hadn’t known he was only a performer. 

“ I gave you a direction.”

“I just think that-”

“I don't pay you to think.”

“Of course, Sir.” He sighed and agreed with Bill to avoid furthering the argument. It would have been more effective to converse with someone more informed; he figured that Bill might just want another perspective. 

When Dipper hesitated rather than following immediately, Bill’s hand rested on his neck and guided him to the seat. 

“I would probably be more useful out on the stage…” He noted the mass of coworkers setting up for the show. He knew the routine, he could have helped out. It was more of a suggestion than another attempt, though the stern look on Bill’s let him know that it was entirely unwelcome either way. 

“Sit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> I was so upset that I couldn't find this exact story online so I had to write it myself!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Show some love in the comments or drop a Kudos to let me know that you liked the story!


End file.
